Chapter 4
Mariffer Acosta, Lillybeth Ventura, Darren White, Lamar Leacock, &
Cheyene Richards Malcolm X’s development as a person and his effects on others during his transition is shown in chapter 4. His involvement with the “ghetto” part of Roxbury causes a change in his personality, right down to what he wears and how he carries himself. He goes from being a
“country hick” to a Roxbury “cool cat”. One individual he has a drastic effect on is a person he encounters, Laura. Her drastic change also foreshadows how far Malcolm falls.
From page 6667 Malcolm describes the process of lindyhopping in order to explain the change within Laura from the perspective of adult Malcolm. For example “if I had been equipped with Sammy’s ability, I might have spotted in Laura then some of the subsurface potential, destined to become real, that would have shocked her grandma.” explains a form of foreshadowing which plays role to Malcolm’s coming of age as an AfricanAmerican man.
Malcolm’s presence in Roxbury causes changes to Laura’s well being as a high school student once he introduces her to the Roseland nightlife. In this case, Laura was wearing a figurative mask to hide her true identity, that is later introduced in the chapter. This mask represented the proper young lady Laura was considered to be through her grandmother's eyes, modest and conservative. But the truth behind it was that once she broke away from her grandmother’s rules as Malcolm recalled she quickly fell into the “dark side”.Her grandmother tried to shield her from herself. Her mask came off when she started to make her own decisions which were influenced by Malcolm and the nightlife .Malcolm blamed himself for her downfall because he was the reason for it. He was the one that introduced her to the “dark side.”
Other than Laura’s change, the idea of Malcolm’s growth is seen when he explains the process of lindyhopping and how he compares and contrasts his